Morning Devotionals

by Don Emmitte

 

April 7th, 2008

 

"Life Is Not Fair (Part 4)"

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' "And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. (Luke 18:1-8a NIV).

There's a second truth we must understand: sometimes suffering can be redemptive. Not all the time, perhaps. There are events in life that seem to have no redemptive characteristics — at least not from our perspective. But there is some truth to the expression, "what does not kill me makes me stronger."

That has been one of the things Dave Dravecky has learned in his battle with cancer. You'll remember that Dravecky was a major league baseball pitcher with the San Francisco Giants. Then he was diagnosed with cancer in his pitching arm. He underwent treatments and after a heroic comeback attempt lost his arm to the disease. "From spending so much time in hospitals," Dave said, "I've learned that when we walk through someone's door who is suffering, we have to respect the sanctity of that room." During his frequent stays in the hospitals Dave has spoken with many other patients. They share their stories and encourage each other. "Something sacred happens when a person is suffering," Dave claims. It is when persons suffer that they turn to God for assurance, for answers, for comfort.

Spending time in hospitals gives persons a lot of time to think about what is really important and reflect on their lives. "God doesn't promise us a life full of mountaintop experiences," Dave Dravecky says. We will also experience valleys in our lives as well. "Dark valleys," Dave claims, "disorienting valleys—valleys of depression and despair." Dave Dravecky has learned that God does not give us a map to detour the valleys of life either. Rather God will be with us, will walk beside us, during those valleys.  "When we emerge from those experiences," Dave declares, "we look back and realize that that is where the growth is. It isn't on the mountaintops above the timberline; it's in the valleys."

What a wise analysis of the place of suffering in our lives. George Matheson, the great poet, developed that same kind of wisdom. When Matheson's eyesight vanished, so did his fiancée. Twenty years later he wrote the immortal hymn, "Oh, Love, that Will Not Let Me Go." But he also penned these very meaningful words that are sometimes overlooked: 

"My God," he wrote, "I have never thanked Thee for my thorns. I have thanked Thee a thousand times for my roses, but not once for my thorns. I have been looking forward to a world where I shall get compensation for my cross: but I have never thought of my cross as itself a present glory. Teach me the glory of my cross: teach me the value of my thorn. Shew me that I have climbed to Thee by the path of pain. Shew me that my tears have made my rainbow."

That's beautiful, isn't it? "Shew me that I have climbed to Thee by the path of pain. Shew me that my tears have made my rainbow." Not everyone can thank God for the thorns. Some people are in too much pain. But sometimes life's most dreaded situations can lead us to a deeper and more profound relationship with God. Doubtless, there are some of you who have experienced that in your own life.